Planetary Motion with General Relativity
The object of this project is to model the motion of planetary bodies in our solar system accounting for general relativity. The greatest difference exhibited between the equations of planetary motion developed under the general theory of relativity and the Newtonian theory is that the elliptical orbit of the planet rotates in its own plane at a greater speed than in Newtonian Mechanics. The fraction of a revolution which the planet rotates during one revolution abut the sun is given by the formula: 12pi^2a^2/c^2T^2(1-e^2) where a is 1/2 the major axis of revolution, c is the speed of light, T is the period of revolution and e is the eccentricity of the orbit. I use the vpython package to model the planetary orbits of our solar system as relativistic ellipses rotating over time.
